A Guide to Prescription Assistance Programs

What Are Patient Assistance Programs?

The uninsured rate in the United States has peaked at a 4 year high in 2019, sitting at 13.7 from late 2018, going into 2019. There are millions of Americans who are uninsured and many more who are underinsured—meaning they have limited coverage and high deductibles. This gap in the market is the reason why many drug manufacturers opt to provide savings on prescription drugs to those who qualify. They are not legally required to do so, but the main advantage is that many of these programs do not count towards coverage for Medicare Part D as the government has their own separate programs which are meant to assist in their own ways

To put it simply, a patient (or prescription) assistance program is a program that drug manufacturers offer to uninsured or underinsured Americans who are having a hard time affording their prescription medication costs. Each manufacturer has their own stipulations and criteria for qualifying for these programs which can—at times, significantly discount the cost of brand name medications to make them affordable month to month.

Where Can You Learn About Prescription Assistance Programs?

Well, the benefit of the internet is that you can certainly learn a great deal about anything on your own. While some doctors and clinics will have information about particular programs they’ve heard of through the grapevine or from patients, many of them are simply not involved or required to have this information at hand. Consider how many drugs there are on the market as well as how many manufacturers that makes brand name versions of those drugs. Each one of these companies may have their own programs and have their own sets of criteria that they require for eligibility.

It would be…to say the least, a fairly monumental undertaking for clinics to know this constantly evolving information on top of their expected duties. There are some useful tools out there, such as the MAT—which is something like a search engine for prescription assistance programs. While these can be helpful to learn about the types of offerings out there, it can still be a difficult undertaking to aggregate all of the data and handle multiple applications, especially if you work or have dependents to take care of, or are in need of care yourself.

If you are a patient and are suffering from an illness or condition, and you’re fretting about money and not being able to afford those prescriptions, whether for you or a loved one, it can be a tough time to gather your focus and be able to research all of the information from various drug manufacturers and their various requirements. That’s why we created Rx Solutions, we help hundreds of people each day to get acquainted with these programs and determine if they are eligible to receive discounts for their prescription medications.

How Do You Obtain Medications Through PAP?

We’ve already gone over the fact that there are many requirements determining eligibility, despite there being great variance in these requirements, there are a few constants.

For starters, you will for all programs need to file an application form to get started with enrollment. These forms require a great deal of information. While some of the applications are online, unfortunately, there are also many that are still using paper means to enrollment. These are simply more reasons why a service such as the one Rx Solution provides can make the process much, much easier.

Enrollment information will typically require a comprehensive amount of medical and financial information. For prescription assistance forms, some companies need a healthcare provider to verify or authorize the medications before you can access them. The reasoning behind this is likely to confer and absolve these companies of legal liability for providing you with certain medications that you need.

In other words, the information you will need will be along the lines of:

Your insurance information detailing out which types of coverage you do and do not have. This is important as you may have insurance coverage but no prescription medication coverage which still leaves you potentially eligible for aid. Generally speaking, some PAP’s will allow for eligibility despite the fact that you qualify for governmental aid, and some do not allow for this.

If you are covered under Medicare, you may be still eligible for coverage outside of Part D benefits—especially if you don’t have supplemental coverage.

One of the most understated but important details is that when approved for a PAP, you will receive anywhere from a month’s supply of your medication to half a years worth in some instances. You will in many cases be required to re-submit an application to obtain a refill. It is for this reason that many people opt to leave their applications in the hands of professionals who can manage and resubmit information for the customer.

Lastly, Not all companies will send medication to your place of residence, sometimes companies will opt to send medications to your healthcare providers office if you have one. One of the difficulties of enrolling in prescription assistance programs is that not all programs offer month-to-month renewals on medications. If you are taking a medication intended for long terms usage, i.e. the treatment of a chronic illness or disease such as ProAir for asthma or Januvia for those who have type 2 diabetes.

How Can You Get Your PAP Accepted Quickly?

From experience, we can tell you that having all of the necessary information on hand and ready to go is a huge help whether you are filling them out by yourself or you decide you would like to save a lot of time and headache and have professional help from people who are familiar with the process. The reason why its best if you have all of your information ready to go is that if you happen to be applying for a PAP that requires a healthcare provider’s signature or any kind of authorization from them, that may be the bottleneck that hinders the speed of your application process.

Healthcare providers are incredibly busy and it may not be obvious to them the nature of your application or urgency. If you are applying for a PAP for prescription medications that you are in dire need of, such as medications used to manage or treat illnesses that can flare up or quickly grow worse without medicine, it would be best to try and make that clear to this provider to increase the likelihood that they bump that up on their list of priorities.

Take The Guesswork Out of Prescription Assistance Programs

At Rx Solution, we’re aware that millions of Americans do not have insurance and many more do not have adequate coverage. Prescription drug prices have been rising astronomically over the years due to a myriad of reasons. For example, acquiring insulin—a highly necessary prescription for diabetics has almost quadrupled in price. Sadly, this has left many Americans out in the dust in trying to afford these often life-saving medications. It has gotten to the point where people have resorted to trying to ration out their own prescription doses or intentionally miss doses so they can prolong the longevity of their supply. This is unacceptable, not only from a health and medical standpoint but from an ethical one.

It is for this reason that we have set up our business around helping Americans get the aid that they need as quickly as possible. Our highly experienced staff knows the application processes for many of the sought after drugs such as Humulin, Chantix, ProAir, Advair, Januvia, Vyvanse, and many more! If you would like to see if you qualify for a PAP, contact us today so you can start saving money now and get the help you deserve!

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Are you uninsured, under-insured, or have Medicare prescription coverage and are having difficulty paying for your medications? Our patient assistance programs provide free or discount drugs, as well as copay assistance.